Freight-car attachment.



J. S. MGQUOWN. FREIGHT GAB. ATTACHMENT. APPLICATION FILED MMM, 1914.

Ll2643. Patented Jan. 5,1m

THE NoRR/s PETERS CO., F'HoToVL/THD., wAsHl/vc/ON. D. c.

JOI-IN SIMS MCGEUOWN, OF FOREST, OHIO.

FREIGHT-CAR ATTACHMENT.

messes.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan.. 26, llll Application filed March 6, 1914. Serial No. 822,988.

To all cti/10m it' may concern.'

Be it known that lf, Jol-IN Sms MCQUowN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Forest, in the county of Hardin and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Freightar Attachments; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertaius to make and use the same.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in freight cars and more particularly to an attachment therefor which will render the cars extremely desirable for shipping fragile articles and material, such as glass, furniture, eggs and the like, in that the fragile articles stored in the cars for shipment are protected against sudden shocks and jars incident to wrecks or the traveling of the cars over rough roads at high rates of speed.

An important object of my invention is to provide an attachment of the character described which consists of a pad formed similar to a mattress and designed to be hingedly connected with the end walls of a car and when not in use to be suspended from the roof of the car in an out of the way position.

Another important object of my invention is to provide an attachment of the character described which is cheap to manufacture, capable of being readily and easily attached to cars without necessitating any change of construction of the cars and reliable and efficient in operation.

rThe above and additional objects are accomplished by such means as are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, described in the following specification and then more particularly pointed out as claimed.

lvl/ith reference to the drawings, wherein l have illustrated the preferred embodiment of my invention as it is reduced to practice, and throughout the several views of which similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts: Figure l is a cross sectional view taken through the car showing my attachment in operative position and attached to one end of a car upon the wall thereof, Fig. 2 is a fragmentary detail perspective view of a portion of the cushioning means or pad, and Fig. 3 is a detail fragmentary perspective View showing a portion of the roof of a car and one of the hooks employed to hang the pad in an out of the way position.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral l designates a car of the usual type for transporting freight.

My attachment comprises a cushioning pad designated 2 as an entirety. This cushioning pad is preferably formed of heavy canvas that is stuffed and fastened in the manner ordinary in upholstery and is preferably as long as approximately the width of the car from wall to wall interiorly oi the car.

My attachment is to be secured upon the end walls of the car and as a means for securing the pad, provide a plurality of flexible hinges 3 that are formed of leather or some other suitable material and secured by suitable fastening means 4 to the end walls ofthe car adjacent to the upper' edges of the end walls but in such a way that the pad is in a position to be engaged by crates or fragile articles packed in the car.

The hinges 3 are arranged preferably adjacent the end edges and centrally of the end edges to evenly support the pad.

On the lower or outer longitudinal edge of the pad I provide rings or eyelets 5 that are secured in any suitable manner to the pad and designed to coperate willi hooks 6 that are secured to the roof of the car. It will be readily seen that the pad 2 may be swung into an approximately horizontal position and suspended from the roof by means of the hooks and eyelets or rings 5.

in shipping eggs for instance, it is generally the custom to arrange tiers of crates say five in number upon the floor of the car. The weight of the eggs in combination with the car weight is generally excessive and jolts and severe jars occasioned by rapid traveling over rough roads or wrecks have caused the crates of to be dashed against the end walls of the car resulting in the breaking of the eggs. |lfhis as will be clearly seen is true with other articles of a fragile nature. ln packing the car equipped with my attachment, the articles are placed in engagement with the pads 2 at the ends of the car thus should a severe jolt or jar be occasioned the pad would act as a bumper and prevent undue breakage. ln case the car is arranged with the packed articles in spaced relation to the pads, it will be read- CII ily seenthat the pads will act to cushion the articles or crates as the case. may be when thrown against the ends of the car.

The pad in being arranged to be hung up or suspended from the roof of the car enables the inner side of the pad to be aired and dry in event the pad is used in connection with a refrigerator car and secured to the wall of the refrigerator or ice box.

It will be readily seen with reference to the foregoing description and accompanying drawings that I have provided a simple and inexpensive attachment which when attached will produce a padded car that may be used for shipping fragile articles and material without undue breakage.

In practice, I have found that the form of my invention, illustrated in the drawings and referred to in the above description7 as the preferred embodiment, is the most eflicient and practical; yet realizing that the condtions concurrent with the adoption of my device will necessarily vary, I desire to emphasize the fact that various minor changes in details of construction, proportion and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, when required, without sacrilicing any of the advantages of my invention, as set forth.

What is claimed is l. An attachment for freight cars comprising a pad, said pad adapted to be secured to the end walls of a freight car, iiexible hinges on said pad to secure said pad to said car and means for hanging said pad to the roof of a car.

2. The combination with a. freightcar having side and end walls of an attachment for said freight car comprising a cushioning pad hingedly secured along one edge to the end walls of said car, rings Secured to the pad and hooks adapted to be secured to the roof of the car to cooperate with said rings.

An attachment for freight cars comprising a cushioning pad adapted to be secured lo the end walls of a freight car. ieX- ible hinges on said pad to secure said pad to said end wall, said pad equal to approximately the width of said car, rings secured to the free edge of said pad and hooks adapted to be secured to the roof of a car to engage said rings and hold said pad in an out of the way position.

4. An attachment for freight cars comprising an approximately rectangular cushioning pad, flexible hinges arranged upon one longitudinal edge of said pad at points adjacent the end and center of the edges to secure said pad to the end wall of a car, rings secured to the lower longitudinal edge of said pad, and hooks adapted to be secured to the roof of the car to engage said rings to hold said pad in an out of the way position, said pad adapted to lie in engagement with the end wall of the car when in operative position.

In testimony whereof I aiiiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOI-IN SIMS MCQUWN. l/Vitnesses Jol-1N OMER MCQUOWN, LESLIE VERNON hloQUowN.

Conies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing' the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

